Friends Made With No Words… Just Yaps and Purrs?
by Kaeji
Summary: Team Kurenai has a new missioncapture Tora the cat! But Akamaru happens to be on the team... and he meets Tora. Gift to Red!


**Note:** Gift to Red! Hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer:** Every character of Naruto belongs to Kishimoto—even Tora! xP

**Friends Made With No Words… Just Yaps and Purrs?**

"Umm… the cat is heading towards your oak tree, Kiba-kun," Hinata murmured into her microphone.

"Yeah, okay!" Kiba said enthusiastically, but softly enough so that only Hinata, using her earphones, could hear. After all, if Tora, the cat they were in charge of capturing, heard him, then the whole mission would have to start over again.

"You've got him?" Shino asked, under the cover of leafy branches, "Do you need my help, or Hinata's?"

"Nah," Kiba replied, "Akamaru and I can handle a cat well enough!"

With that, Kiba glanced at the brown and white dog inquiringly. Akamaru nodded with human intelligence gleaming in his eyes. He barked softly.

"Yeah," Kiba muttered, "I'm ready, too. Let's go!"

With that, the boy and dog leaped upon the brown cat padding along the forest floor.

Akamaru barked, and held onto the sky-blue ribbon that was tied around the cat Tora's neck, biting down hard. His strong jaws refused to let go, although Tora hissed and bit him and Kiba.

Kiba yelped as Tora fought to get free, scratching at the boy's pants. Clamping down with razor-sharp teeth, Tora the cat drew blood from Kiba's ankle. Whirling around, Kiba hastily tied a leash around the ribbon Akamaru was still holding.

Shino, Hinata, and their team leader, Kurenai, appeared then. Grinning, Kiba and Akamaru proudly showed them their catch, Tora, tied on a sturdy brown leather leash.

"Good work!" Kurenai complimented them, "Now all we have to do is get the cat back to the shinobi headquarters and we'll be done with this mission!"

Kiba caught Shino's eye and beamed. Catching this dratted cat was no easy task, although it had sounded like a simple enough mission at first! Even Akamaru sighed and stretched contentedly.

"Umm… Kiba-kun, I can take the cat now, if you wait…" Hinata said softly, shyly to her teammate.

"Alright!" Kiba replied thankfully, "Here you go!"

And he handed the leash, or attempted to hand the leash to Hinata. But the lithe brown cat twisted, leaped, and swiftly bit Kiba on the hand just as he was about to let go of the leather rope. Dropping the rope, Kiba nursed his hand tenderly, then tried to catch the falling leash. Hinata's hand reached out to grab it, but Tora was too swift. In a flash, she was gone from the scene. The cat had escaped their grasp. Again.

Kiba put a hand to his head, a exasperation written clearly on his face. "Noooo, this is not happening, " he groaned.

Even Shino, usually expressionless, was frowning, and showing a bit of disappointment.

Kurenai sighed. "We can't do a thing about that Tora escaping again, so why don't we just call it a day? Right now we're in the forest, rather far away from the headquarters… so let's just make camp in a suitable clearing and continue with the capture of Tora tomorrow. "

Shino nodded. "The lady asking for Tora to be found must've known it was this hard," he commented dryly, "She acted like she was doing us a great favor when she told us it didn't matter how much time we took—days or weeks."

Kiba remembered back to that moment. He had scoffed at her words, claiming that they could find the requested cat in less than an hour. The woman had merely smirked, and left the headquarters.

X

The team of five (Akamaru included) set camp in record time, moving mechanically. They were too tired to think much of anything, and soon plopped down to rest in their separate sleeping bags. Soon slow, soft breathing filled the air, and movement started in the bushes surrounding the small clearing. Brown fur rustled ferns, slowly circling the camp. Akamaru's ear twitched, and he climbed out of Kiba's blankets warily.

Nose pointing up, the dog scented the air. Cautiously, he moved towards the smell of cat. The scent was all too familiar—Tora the cat.

Tora padded silently, attempting to move so that she was downwind of Akamaru, but the breeze would not cooperate. Escaping didn't work, Akamaru stalked his prey with the same ease as a shadow followed its owner.

At last, Tora gave up and padded out into the open. A good distance away from the camp, of course. Akamaru's hackles rose, and his lips pulled back to display a collection of fine ivory white—and deadly—fangs.

With a yowl, Tora launched herself onto Akamaru's body, biting and scratching. Akamaru rolled over and shook Tora off of him. Tora weaved in and out, dodging Akamaru. At last she dove forwards, spun, and ducked under his belly. She tried to scratc the dog's soft underside, knowing that it was the most vulnerable spot. Akamaru barked and swung a paw at Tora, hitting her full in the face. He barreled into her, his strong, broad shoulders acting as a sort of battering ram.

Tens of minutes, hours passed by of fierce dueling. Neither animal would give up, though neither could inflict serious injury on the other. At last, panting, they stopped fighting for a moment. Both were sweating heavily, and yet kept up their guard.

Akamaru narrowed his eyes, watching the brown cat warily. Tora was not any old cat, and she was a worthy match for him. He very seldom fought anyone without the aid of Kiba, although his enemies were all human ninja. And the few he did fight on his own were easy prey. This cat, this Tora—was not. If he had an ounce less of strength, Tora may very well have beaten him. Akamaru held no hate for Tora, however. The cat was like a training partner to Akamaru. The first real training partner he had ever acquired—when Kiba and Akamaru fought each other, they would not seriously attack one another. They shared too much, knew each other too well to even think about hurting the other.

Tora's sighed a cat sigh, then made up her mind. This Akamaru was unlike any opponent she had ever met. Nothing she could do would be able to escape him. Approaching Akamaru cautiously, she waved her tail. Akamaru's hackles rose even higher, then lowered, and he sniffed Tora. Peace-scent enveloped the feline. The dog's tail began to wag, and he panted his apologies to the small cat. Tora mewed her own apologies, then assured Akamaru that no injuries or grudges were held.

The dog and cat formed mutual respect and friendship for each other, although they fought on opposite sides of the mission. Akamaru was expected to help catch Tora, and Tora was keen on running away from the ninja team. Promising with purrs and yaps that they would keep this meeting—and their friendship secret, Akamaru headed back to camp.

Tora had helped him stick brambles into his thick white coat, to look as if he was sleepwalking and walked into a bush of brambles. Then Akamaru very deliberately crawled into a small patch of brambles. He nudged his head in the direction of the forest, urging Tora to escape now.

Tora vanished into the darkness of the woods, and so Akamaru began whining. He feigned distress, and yelped until Kiba sleepily got up and searched for his dog. Kiba found him stuck in a bramble bush, and a shocked expression crossed his face. Hurridly, Kiba cut away the brambles and carried Akamaru back to camp.

Seeing all the cuts and bruises, Kiba assumed that they were from getting stuck in the bush. And no questions asked, he nursed the sores. He dabbed medicine and put salve on the dog. Akamaru, in return, licked Kiba's face clean for the morning and barked his thanks to the dark-haired boy.

Kurenai and the rest of the team soon woke up, to find Akamaru trotting around, picking up sticks of firewoods and to feed the flames. Kiba was busy making a sort of stew for them. Yawning, Kurenai asked, "Why up so early? "

Kiba merely sheepishly grinned and returned to stirring his soup. Never would he say that Akamaru was sleepwalking and walked into brambles, although this was what he believed. He hoped to preserve Akamaru's good reputation, not spoil it all by telling tales of his sleepwalking.

Then the walkie-talkies started vibrating. Leaping up with a yelp, Kurenai hastily unbuckled the small phones. "What is it? " she asked half curiously, half worriedly—after all, the headquarters rarely disturbed a mission by calling them.

Kurenai listened, then a surprised expression crossed her face. Hinata looked at her, face tilted to a side. "What is it, Kurenai-sensei? " she asked politely.

"The headquarters asked first how we were doing, then they said… the mission's off. That lady, the owner of the cat… she… doesn't want anything to do with that Tora anymore. All we have to do now is pack up our bags and head home! "

Kiba whooped and leaped into the air. "Yes! " he cheered, and soon Hinata and Shino, although usually abnormally conservative, joined in. Akamaru sighed with relief and pleasure. He wouldn't be forced to wage battle with his newfound friend, after all!

A short time later, the team stood attentively, scanning the camp one more time for anything forgotten. They all had packs of supplies strapped to their backs, even Akamaru had a small roll of blankets tied onto his furry back. Kurenai nodded briskly, then led the way back to the Konoha shinobi headquarters. Kiba whistled a merry tune, as Hinata walked along, a small secret smile pasted to her lips. Shino, too, grinned ever so slightly.

And as Akamaru ambled by on his way home, a flash of brown fur caught his eye, by the edge of the trail. It waved for a moment, then disappeared.


End file.
